Owen County Water Rescue Assists With District 7 K-9 Search & Rescue Training

Local Dogs Available To Law Enforcement During Emergencies

by Michael Stanley Staff Writer

Owen County Water Rescue Team members Kevin Sater, left, and Dave Keith are pulled back to shore by Sater’s brown Labrador, Smokey, during a recent K-9 Search & Rescue training at Cagles Mill Lake. (Staff Photo) Search and rescue dogs from Vigo and Owen counties, as well as a few helpful pooches from Wisconsin recently showed off their search and tracking skills for their handlers during a training exercise at Cagles Mill Lake in northern Owen County.

With help from the Owen County Water Rescue Team, canines from the Indiana Department of Homeland Security’s (IDHS) District Seven boarded rescue boats and tracked scents around the lake.

Among the handlers was Owen County EMS EMT and water rescue team member Kevin Sater with his Labrador, Smokey, and German Shepherd, Jeff, as well as IDHS Search & Rescue Section Chief Lillian Hardy and her dog, Snyder.

Sater and his dogs were joined by seven canines from Vigo County with four handlers, along with four handlers and five dogs from the Wisconsin-based Great Lakes Search & Rescue (GLSAR).

Indiana Department of Homeland Security Search & Rescue Section Chief Lillian Hardy works her trained cadaver search dog, Snyder. (Staff Photo) “The focus of the training was to work the cadaver dogs from a boat, but we also worked the tracking dogs and area search dogs in the woods,” Sater explained. “We also did some water rescue training with my lab, having her pull boats into shore. It was the best water training we’ve ever had.”

Sater noted that his dogs are local and available to area law enforcement. Smokey is a live find dog, certified through IDHS in wilderness rescue. Smokey will be tested for disaster rescue in September. Jeff is a cadaver search dog and will be testing for certification once he is old enough.

“Every canine is available at no charge to any requesting agency. GLSAR has come to Indiana to help us and we have been to Wisconsin as well,” Sater noted. “All the handlers put in countless dollars and hours to do one thing, find missing people. It generally takes about 40 or more hours a week for about two years to get a dog operational. It is not a small commitment.”

Sater added that, “both dog teams would like to publicly thank the (Owen County) Water Rescue Team for all their help; Cris (Lunsford) and Dave (Keith) made it great.”